#but there are a ton of cool things just not expanded on in the series which makes me feel kinda bleh

[worm-on-my-way]

BWAH promise im cooking up some awesome sauce drawings just been super busy blehhh got hooked on a fic series thats like 400k so ive been binging it but im on the last little stretch so expect cool arts!!!!!!!!!!!

[everything-fine-n-peachy]

supernova (l.dh)

pairing: lee donghyuck x reader genre: angst with a shit ton of longing summary: donghyuck is the boy you love but you don't tell him This is part of a series but you don't have to read anything in order. You can find the first part here.

Donghyuck is an object constantly in motion. 

He is faster than light speed. Always looking for the next source of excitement. Like atomic particles in synergy with each passing second, he is one thing now and another thing later. 

His eyes, always alight with curiosity, now like fireflies to the glow that is Mark Lee. You watch from across the table, trying to distract yourself from the heaviness in your chest with college applications (but failing) as he playfully pokes at Mark’s cheek. 

Mark Lee: soft-spoken, with just the right hint of unassuming. The type of boy that makes it easy to fall. Not too brash, just enough mystique. Enough to keep Doghyuck hooked. 

“Mark! You have to promise me that you’ll come see my show,” Donghyuck whines, batting his lashes. 

Mark, ever a saint, chuckled in response, “You know I’ll be there.” 

The boy with honeygold skin beams and it’s warm and light and it is not directed at you. 

Donghyuck is an ever-expanding universe.

Always just out of reach. He was the long standing mystery you’ve been trying to unravel. At a certain point, you accept it—think the boy you called your bestfriend could never be in love with someone like you. 

You never once considered yourself in league with the gems in the sky, unlike Mark. Not among the pretty things that Donghyuck had a penchant for. 

But sometimes? Sometimes you guess there can be a one in a million cosmic miracle. 

“What will happen to us in college?” You ask him as you walk underneath the indigo sky with the stars on full display. 

Without warning his hand is reaching for yours, the grin on his face never faltering. “What do you mean?” 

“Well, we’re going to different schools next year… I mean,” you trail off, your heart beating a little louder. 

“We can still keep in touch and visit each other’s schools and go on a road trip and all that other cool stuff,” he replied swinging your clasped hands as you continued to walk toward the school gates. 

“what if we drift apart?” 

“Well, yeah seeing each other will be difficult but,” Donghyuck pauses and you feel him squeeze gently. 

Between your wild heart and the pressure of Donghyuck’s hand you think you’re about to burst, but you could never forget what he said, “when have we ever backed down from anything?” 

Donghyuck is a majestic nebula. On another afternoon the sky is a gloomy shade of gray. You accept that the walk back home is going to be riddled with puddles that make your footsteps sticky with mud. But Donghyuck runs out the theater just after his rehearsals with his eyes toward the sky. You chase after him, thinking he must be insane. 

“Gosh, look the rain is so pretty,” he declares, raindrops catching on his lashes like dew, as he refuses to come back to the shade with you even as you’re pulling him to safety. 

He is pretty, you think to yourself. You heave a sigh, maybe this was enough. Maybe watching from a far had to be enough. 

And they told you many times, the truth about stars. About how those twinkling dots weren’t as unassuming as the nursery rhymes they taught at school. They were balls of gas and god-knows-what. 

Volatile and unpredictable. 

There was probably a good reason they were light years away, the distance serving some divine purpose.But you didn’t listen. No, not when in your head, you had your very own piece of celestial here on earth. 

Donghyuck is a supernova. 

There is something truly alluring about a boy who never cries. Quick to school his handsome features, keeping everything in check. Wit, sharp and precise enough to evade the important questions. 

And god, did you try to let him know that your arms were always open, always waiting. 

But “the show must go on” and so with aching shoulders and a bruised heart, he pressed on. You, a witness sweeping up the sparkles once the curtains are drawn and the stands were empty. You recognized the glitter for what it truly was; shards. 

There was enough proximity to make out the the shadows that plagued his mind, a glance. He'd let a word or two slip but pandora's box was always tightly sealed.

You wanted nothing more in the world than to soothe him, hold him close and tell him that it’s okay to finally break. But he always had siblings to take care of or a manchild of a father to deal with. 

They say it takes more than a billion years for stars to exhaust but only seconds to implode. 

You aren’t sure when he started pulling away. After Mark didn’t make it to his show? The day he found out he got wait-listed at his dream university? Last Tuesday when you couldn’t make it to lunch because you needed to volunteer? 

Your questions fall on deaf ears. One day he tires of the conversation. He picks a different table and bothers a different girl. Suddenly, you are no longer needed. 

Donghyuck is still Donghyuck but he is no longer your Donghyuck. 

There are no more texts to stay up with him doing homework, no more whiney requests for you to pick his side in an argument, or “I’ll come get you after class”. 

In the vacuum of space you yell and scream. You cry and cry until there is nothing left. You beg, God do you beg. You spend days staring at the grout between the tiles because nothing makes sense. 

Like a black hole, Donghyuckmakes no sound as he leaves your life. Everything is perfectly still.

You make small talk on graduation day. The chaotic sound of families discussing dorm arrangements for the upcoming semester and sharing dinner plans makes your mind go numb. You think, this is the last time you are ever going to stand with these people who watched you grow up and all you felt was blank. 

You watch as Donghyuck with fresh charm and a diploma in hand, tickles his little brother. When your eyes meet, he smiles like it’s nothing. 

You were in love with Donghyuck but there was never a chance to say it so the words feel stuck in your throat like a mausoleum was built there in commemoration. 

As you sink back into the car seat heading home, you come to terms with the fact that Donghyuck took half of you with him when he left. 

Donghyuck was your star. Warm, bright, and burning with so much intensity. 

But no matter how dazzling he can be, there is a point when you are out of breath from trying to keep up with his stride. He comes and goes as he pleases- your feelings do not hold any weight for something that is celestial. 

When the ashes settle you realize that you are left to pick up the pieces. It’ll be a long time before you stop seeking him out in the sky.

[anipgarden]

What to Do Once Things Are Planted?

This is my seventh post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

So you’ve gotten started on making a garden to boost biodiversity! 10/10, excellent work! So, now what?

First, you’ll need to keep watering the plants--especially if you’re going through a dry season. Native plants will be more acclimated to your area’s seasonal weather, but they’ll need a helping hand while they’re getting established--especially if you’re starting with young, tender seedlings. With that in mind, if you accidentally skip out on crucial watering days, don't panic! There's been tons of times where I haven't watered for an entire summer and had perennials come back the next spring! Even this year, during a heatwave, I completely did not water my swamp milkweeds, but they're already popping back up! You may also need to go in and weed, especially if you’re seeing invasive species popping up in the garden. Invasives are no good--if you do anything, do your best to get those out as effectively and safely as possible!

If you’re needing to maintain your shrubs in spring and summer, double check to make sure there are no active bird or insect nests within them. If it’s possible to wait until later to cut your shrubs, it could be extremely beneficial.

When fall and winter come around and your plants begin to die back, don’t cut them away if you can! Many insects overwinter in the plant stems left behind as perennials die back to the roots. In addition, birds will use seed heads as a source of food over the winter. Try not to clean things up until late winter/early spring, when other food sources are beginning to come back and things are growing again. By then, the insects should be waking up and leaving the plant stems as well.

However, don’t let this discourage you from collecting seeds! Collecting seed from your plants is a great way to continue gardening at low cost, as well as making friends and encouraging others to garden by trading seeds or offering them as gifts. If you're in an area where you do need to cut back, this is a great opportunity to collect the seeds and save them for the future. You could also cut back what’s dying in the front yard and keep things to overwinter in the backyard. Some overwintering habitat is better than no overwintering habitat.

Want to know how to collect seeds from specific plants? I've found YouTube to be a great source of info for this! Knowing what you're doing and when is key to getting a viable harvest.

As your mulch begins to break down, you’ll need to keep adding more to top it off, if you can. It can get a bit repetitive, but no worries--the mulch breaking down means your soil is improving! 

If possible, add to your garden! Expand, add in new things, and keep encouraging the growth of native plants. If you couldn’t add that water feature in year one, see if you can in year two! New interest in birds? Add a birdhouse, or more bird feeders. Loving the butterflies? Add plenty more nectar-rich plants, or do more research into what they lay their eggs on! Want more color? See what else you can add in! Came into some new pots to expand your flowerpot garden with? Find cool native plants to put in them! I always encourage people to start small and then expand over time, as opposed to starting big and getting overwhelmed.

Keep learning and observing native species of birds, insects, mammals, etc. See what’s coming to your yard now, and look into how you can improve things more for them on your budget. If you aren’t seeing what you were hoping, see if there’s other actions you can take that’ll attract what you’re hoping to see in your backyard habitat. Knowing more about the world around you makes it easier to know how to help the world around you. Talk to others about what you’re doing, the changes you’ve made, and the results you’ve seen! Curious neighbors? Work friends? Your closest homies? Your family? All fair game! You just might be the one who gets someone else interested in making their space a habitat for local wildlife!

That’s the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about the secret Other Thing you can do to help biodiversity--tackling invasives! Until then, I hope this advice was helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, your success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[stellar-constellations]

STELLAR IM ON MY KNEES PLS TELL US ABOUT THE ANDREW SERIES IDEAS

I apologize in advance for my ramblings, because I know damn well I'm going to rant. These ideas are not yet complete and could change over time as I try to work out plots and ideas, FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED AND WANTED!

First thing's first, thank you to my Secret Spy (name is unknown for privacy reasons/to have a cool nickname) who gives me ideas and honest feedback about my work so I can improve. Much love to you. She suffers through A LOT of my obsessive rambles, and she also helps a great deal in ideas for my stories, so I appreciate her help and patience.

First idea: Andrew Graves x Stalker! Cultist! Reader

This was a suggestion brought up by my Secret Spy. It's a huge work in process considering how I'd have to try and write plot purposes with that, but hey, we'll see how it goes, so allow me to explain the (supposed) plot so far.

(Y/N) is a member of the phony cult group "Asinus infirma daemonium clava" (look it up in Latin using this translator, trust me). Due to a contract forged between her parents' and the Fire Demon before her birth. After the death of her parents from supernatural causes, (Y/N) finds herself born with demonic connections to the Fire Demon and grows up inside the cult. Surrounded by phony cultists and the same people her entire life, she finds herself utterly obsessed in love upon meeting Andrew Graves, a seemingly normal guy who just happens to accidentally infiltrate the cult.

(Y/N)'s personality is currently up in the air, but I think I'm leaning towards a confident, morally-grey reader who has a knack for causing destruction and problems.

This is currently a oneshot/fic idea due to many plot holes and a worry that this fic's original plot will be too similar to another idea I have (don't worry, that idea will be written here in this post). FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS IDEA IS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED, let me know what you want to read, and any ideas you have to help expand this into a potential series, or we can keep it a nice and short fic!

Second Idea: Andrew Graves x Greek Goddess! Reader

Due to the nature of this idea, there will be religious themes mentioned, and there will also be tons of inaccuracies and my own takes on Greek Mythology (because Greek Mythology is EVERYWHERE that it would be hard to try and make this accurate). Sorry to my Percy Jackson fans, I've never watched or read the books so the Gods' personalities will be nothing like the PJ series. This was actually an idea I introduced a few months ago, it was actually in a poll against Star Patient! This idea has been recreated with a different plot, but I believe this plot is more enjoyable than the OG's plot.

(Y/N) is the Greek Goddess of Sleep and Visions. For years, she's had her eyes on Andrew Graves, finding his dreams and subconscious desires intriguing to stand out upon the billions of other dreams she's seen throughout her millenniums. She finds herself in the mortal's overworld now, entering a world of advanced technology and terrifying beasts (cars) roaming the streets. While Andrew tries to shield (Y/N) from humanities dangerous flaws (including himself), Ashley finds (Y/N)'s powers more useful than you would expect... finding herself in a world constantly on the run as she evades the police and discovers what living is with the Graves Siblings.

So, the whole road-trip evading the police thing was an idea I had for the Cultist idea, but I decided to ditch it in the Cultist idea because it was far too similar. I figured the idea would fit here more, having an outdated and naive Goddess trying to navigate this new scary world just sounds so adorable!

(Y/N)'s personality is curious, timid, with an almost child-like fascination as she learns to understand the meaning of life, and to cherish it while it lasts. She has a serious need for validation and feeling needed, and all she wants to do is be helpful to the Graves siblings, no matter what she has to do.

This is going to be a fluffy and bittersweet series. I wanted something more wholesome and sweet for Andrew and Ashley because they deserve it after all they've gone through (in the game and in my Star Patient series, ahaha). (Y/N) and Andrew are the only love interests, and Ashley has a pretty healthy and wholesome sister-like relationship with (Y/N).

Third Idea: Andrew Graves x Two-faced! Serial Killer! Reader

As you've probably noticed now, I like making (Y/N) the more... interesting characters. I feel like each (Y/N) helps branch out and creates inclusivity for my readers, because not everyone has the same personality or thought-process, so I wanted all my (Y/N)'s to be unique too!

(Y/N) is Andrew's lovable neighbor next door. She's always willing to lend a hand and has a stellar social image and a great connection with the community. In the day, she works as a waitress in a popular diner and volunteers at pet shelters. At night, she's a ruthless killer stalking the alleyways of the city, with nothing on her mind but how many stabs she can stab a face into disfiguration. She's never cared for romance or love until now, meeting Andrew Graves after he discovers her horrific secret. Now that he knows, she'll have to keep a constant eye on him. Sure, she could kill him, but what's the point of killing such a cute guy without at least playing with him some? Maybe this isn't so much romance, but more so manipulation and power-play, however Andrew slowly seems to let those red flags go and enter a world filled with obsessive love, jealousy, and Stockholm syndrome.

This Andrew doesn't have Ashley as a sibling, making him an introverted, socially-constipated, wallflower with a need of validation.

This (Y/N) is two-faced. To your face, she's bubbly, empathetic, and is the perfect definition of a saint, but if you turn your back for just a second, you might find a knife in it. She has a serious thirst for blood and hearing bones snap (she could potentially be a cannibal, I'm deciding if I want that as a motive or not...)

This going to be a slowburn series.

FEEDBACK AND IDEAS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED FOR THIS IDEA!

Fourth Idea: Potential serial killer! Andrew Graves x Journalist! Reader

This idea is the most unstable and wonky one. This idea is under extreme development as I try to figure out what I want to do with this reader and her personality. A poll will eventually be released for this reader's personality and motives.

(Y/N) is a plain and boring woman. You wouldn't notice her in a crowd, much less recognize her face. She's a journalist who specializes in covering true crime cases, and the her hottest case happens to be the quarantined apartment in her city. A thump on her balcony and a door opening leads her to meeting Andrew Graves, who may just be the worst (or best) thing to ever happen in her life. I mean, it's not everyday your hottest crime case drops right into your apartment and begs for a place to stay! Who knew hitmen, cops, and a whole damn demon is following with—okay, what the hell is going on and how does she get her normal life back?!

(Y/N)'s personality is currently unknown. I'm unsure if I want to make her depressed with a thirst of death (hence why she lets Andrew stay, in hopes he'll kill her), or if I want (Y/N) to be a normal girl with an obsessive hobby of true crime and a conspiracy theorist (who wants to keep Andrew around in hopes he'll expose all the case's secrets for her to report). FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED FOR THIS!

I'm also unsure if I want Andrew to be a paranoid guy trying to hide from the police after killing his sister (yes, he killed his sister), or if I want Andrew to be a cocky, arrogant, serial killer. FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED FOR THIS!

This is going to be a series. What direction I want it to take is up in the air, but I want action and drama.

These are currently the ideas I have going on. These ideas are excluding current fluffy fics I'm working on, so be on the lookout for those new fics coming out soon! These series will all be in a poll after I finish the Star Patient series, so I won't be holding off Star Patient for these!

SERIOUSLY, Y'ALL. FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY WANTED ON THESE IDEAS. DON'T BE AFRAID TO LEAVE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS IN MY INBOX, OR MESSAGE ME! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS WANNA READ (and as always, if you have your own ideas for fics, please send them in and I'll see what I can do).

[yurisorcerer]

This shit is boooooooooooonkers.

I've not read many martial arts manga, but this is easily the most fun I've ever had reading one. It's just completely fucking unhinged, is the main thing. The fights themselves are these whirlwind grotesqueries of flailing limbs and blood and faces straight out of a horror manga and just general brutality. The actual plot, if you can believe it, is even more out there, revolving around the ostensible main character, Hina, who is the scion of a disbanded cult and the inheritor of a stash of lethal chemical weapons. She enters the world of underground womens' fighting basically because she's bored, but this all may also tie into a plot to carry on the legacy of the aforementioned cult.

I've talked before about how a work's cast can be so full of whackos that the art itself feels deranged, and this is overall just a great example of that, pure psychosis with minimal connection to reality. I love it, it's a ton of fun.

Oh, and I must also talk a little about the series' use of star iconography, which is very interesting to me.

Given the very recent vintage of this series (it only started last year), the "stars in eyes = Special Person" signalling seems pretty directly swiped from Oshi no Ko. On the surface those are two very different manga, but the borrowing here makes more sense than it might seem to at first blush, OnK itself isn't shy about portraying the downsides of "star quality." Hina, who is maybe part of some kind of Illuminati-type-fuckin'-thing-it's-a-little-hard-to-say-just-yet, is definitely someone with a lot of charisma, but as in the darkest corners of OnK, it's put to very grim ends here, as Hina seems to have some kind of sinister master plan that might involve overthrowing the government??? It's a lot.

In any case, I just think the bit of nicked iconography is neat, and Strike it Rich actually expands on this by calling the weird supersoldier kids program thing that Hina was part of the "Star Children," complete with giving her "rival" Rei star symbolism of her own,

(I say rival but it's really more of some weird sadomasochistic fucked-up yuri where they're trying to kill each other. Think of a more punchy version of what Bernkastel and Lambdadelta had going on and you're in the right ballpark. Also, I love her Evil Steven Universe Hoodie, it's so cool)

and later they expand on this as well by indulging in some imagery of two star shapes clashing and shattering each other to represent their upcoming fight (this hasn't happened yet, we're in the middle of the storyline leading up to that). It's interesting stuff all around.

[t00fumaple]

Some thoughts about OG Beyblade second season

I really just want to talk about it tbh, and share it here. Stuff I liked, stuff I didn’t, would be nice to wrap up the S2 watch through posts ig. Feel free to disagree with me or not, I don’t mind either way.

Spoilers below, obviously lmao

I’m not even going to lie I kind of went into knowing that a lot of people didn’t like it, then when I watched it, I kind of don’t get the hate? Personal preference maybe??? Massive change and the way it paces the story??? Not sure, cause some of the criticisms I’ve seen I kind of just, don’t get. Though that may be because dub changes, or I’m stupid.

This season is definitely the middle child of the OG Beyblade, though I personally enjoyed it despite its problems.

First things first, stuff I liked throughout the season.

I absolutely adore the vibes it had, very early 2000s, and it was a nice change of pace and I will say I like it more than the first season. Though, it seemed like it did try keeping up with the times, especially with the major artstyle change and the switch to 3d for the Beyblades (which I’ll get into later). Which was a bit jarring considering how older the first season felt (idk how to describe it lol)

The sound effects were very nice, I just liked the clicking and clacking of Beyblades, the footsteps, the typing on the keyboards. They were very nice to me, very yummy indeed I wish I could feast on these noises

The animation was really cool too, perhaps a bit better than the first season? But it’s quite hard to tell since long series like this bad animation is way more forgettable, you see it in most episodes unless you have an insane budget. Shoutout to the one animation director who worked on Episode 15 and Episode 28. I’m not sure who it is, and if they worked on another episodes but their style was recognizable and they had very funny camera angles and snappy movements, the characters looked adorable when they were animated like that and I wish we saw it more often.

The plot structure was interesting and took the nice break and concepts in the Europe arc and extended it, it was an interesting change of pace and it was fun to explore different situations in the blading world than just, world tournaments. Also helped expand more about the sacred beasts, I could argue it wasn’t exactly needed but whatever, it’s a nice season concept. Though this decision at times did work against the season.

Finally the characters, I really liked them this season, and it felt the BBA team were really closer as friends, it was very sweet. I wish we got more slice of life scenes in the season, I really enjoyed in the movie where they were playing at the beach or at the festival, and I think it would’ve given the kids a break since there’s a shit ton of things happening in this season. Also the designs were really nice too, Max and Kai look awesome in this season.

Also Hiromi is really great, that’s my girl. I wish they did more with her, since I think she’s kind of there at times, though she helps the team in her own way since oh my god they truly did need a non-blader mediator

So is Zeo!!! Literally one of my favorite characters out of the franchise now, that’s literally my son right there. Though I believe he could be a bit of a better character, but I think he’s fine on his own right now, I love him. Most of my thoughts on him like definitely go into headcanon territory so I won’t share them lol

Now onto my gripes with the season

I HATE THE BEYBLADE BATTLES AHHHHHH

Like I’m pretty sure it’s just me, since I may be going crazy and I find myself sometimes just skipping or paying half attention to what’s happening on the screen for these sort of things. I look at the writing and character side of things not the buy my toy aspect (which may be a terrible habit of mine lol)

But, I just, didn’t feel as charmed as much as the first season battles, which is a damn shame because it felt so significantly changed to me, it was just sad. I’m not exactly sure what the root is, but probably just the fact they switched to 3d models, which is totally fine and I understand the change, I just think they didn’t want to or have the budget to do things like the first season. I just miss the themed stadiums and the unique ways to work against or work with it.

Also I just think, they did focus a lot on the sacred beasts during the battle, which is fine considering the theme of the season and their expansion on that part of the lore, but at times it just felt repetitive, since like every single fucking antagonist just wanted to kidnap this group of 12 year old’s ancient ass pets in their spinning tops.

Speaking of which, there was just a lot going on tbh. Like I think having the scientists was a really interesting move and I think it would’ve worked if, well, The Saint Shields didn’t exist lol.

See, I don’t like them, they were introduced first and they had that weird mystique on what they were after, then like later they just, started existing. I cannot believe Ozma was considered a main character on Anilist when from what I recall, since i honestly couldn’t tell you a single character trait that guy has

I feel having two groups going after the sacred beasts was a bit much, especially since the Saint shields were a bit flimsy on what they were doing. Even if it was explained, it felt a bit weird to me tbh. Like I think they were there to push the mystery of the sacred beasts, since they’re the most connected to them, but I think it could’ve easily been executed better.

Also I want to say, it’s so weird to me about how many people mention how bad Takao is in this season, but like, I don’t get it?

It may be adaptational changes, but I don’t think Takao was as insufferable as I’ve seen a lot of people claim, I think his only problem was taking his anger and stress out on others, which I will say was… a bit weird since it was framed as bad but the plot never sought for him to learn from it iirc, Kind of missed potential tbh. Though in Takao’s defense, if that kind of shit was happening around me 24/7 I’d probably not be the most pleasant person to be around either 💀

Anyway yeah that should be all my thoughts! Feel free to open discussions with me, I like hearing what other people say! Please keep in mind this is my personal opinion so it’s okay to not agree with me!

It’s a fine season! I just think it could be better and I believe a lot of ironing out the plot would be nice, like I personally think the season would’ve worked better if the only antagonists were the scientists and the learning of stuff about the sacred beasts happened through the season instead of just a lot of their backstory getting lore dropped in one episode. But that’s just me.

Yeah that’s my opinion bye, if you have questions about specific stuff feel free to ask me

[aaronsrpgs]

"Ancient World Fantasy" Reading List

(A little context to start. If you just want book recs, scroll on down to the first image.)

As I’ve been getting into RuneQuest (Wikipedia link), one striking component of the culture and community surrounding the game is that they’re very into the lore of its fictional world, Glorantha. I’m saying this as a comparison to a game like D&D, where the game is spread across tons of settings with no real sense of obligation to keep things in line with earlier editions.

Glorantha’s canon and worldbuilding has been going on since it was published in 1978 without, as far as I can tell, any big reboots. Which means that, unlike D&D, where people are bringing in all kinds of influences and doing direct adaptions of Jane Austen books and whatever, the RuneQuest game remains pretty tightly tied to the original setting. (There have been some exceptions. But not many!)

But since I run games for people who have ADHD or aren’t interested in studying up, I’ve been looking at all kinds of inspiration to drop into the game. Here are 20 novels that are roughly “ancient world” or “Bronze Age” like RuneQuest and deal with people interacting with strange gods, tight communities, and a world without fast overland travel or transferal of information.

I’m presenting them alphabetically by author’s last name.

The Brazen Gambit, Cinnabar Shadows, The Rise and Fall of a Dragon King by Lynn Abbey

I'm sorry for starting this post off with licensed RPG novels, but these are good! And I don't mean "good for licensed RPG novels." I've read tons of them, and most are so bad! But these are actually fun. Good character development in a sword-and-sorcery world. It's also an ecological apocalypse world, with godlike beings oppressing common folks, leading to a lack of technological advancement and knowledge of the past.

The Long Ships by Frans G. Bentsson

Written in the 1940s as a series of novellas, these stories take you on a tour of the Viking-era world, from Europe to the Middle East and beyond. Like a bunch of books on this list, this places them post-Bronze Age, so they're not officially "ancient world." But it gives a big spread of cultures, from the more clan-based Vikings to the bustling metropolises of Turkey. And it doesn't place any of them on any kind of linear advancement scale or whatever other gross way people "rate" cultures.

Tales of Nevèrÿon and Neveryóna by Samuel R. Delany

The master of weird sci-fi and gay historical novels, Chip Delany also wrote a fantasy epic. And it rules! Set on pre-historical(ish) Earth, these books describe the stories that maybe inform the myths we tell today? Dragons and slave revolts! A sort of "What if Game of Thrones was good?" series. Lots of good stuff about how people learn and how understanding expands.

I'm not listing the third book only because it's also a historical look at New York during the AIDS epidemic. It's an amazing book! But it strays from the "ancient world" aesthetic.

Baudolino by Umberto Eco

Another novel expressly set after the Bronze Age (this one starts in the 12th century). BUT it's about Medieval people's interaction with the knowledge they inherited from the past, specifically the myth of Prester John and the works of Herodotus.

I think I keep putting books like this on the list because roleplaying in a fantastical ancient world is not too far off from how Medieval people might have worshipped and referenced works from ancient Rome and non-European places.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf and Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James

One of our best living writers! These are fantasy novels expressly set in a fantastical version of ancient/Medieval Africa. The books explore the same events from multiple points of view and are full of cool magic, awesome spirit combat, and a vast number of places and cultures that actively deconstructs most games's portrayal of fantasy Africa as a homogeneous place.

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

I think Kingsnorth has been outted as a sort of eco-fascist? I totally believe it, so feel free to skip this one. It's a historical novel set in England in 1066, as the Normans invade from France. It's written in a faux Middle English language and focuses on the lower classes and how they try to resist the invasion. A good reminder that "Medieval culture" (and especially the Renaissance as a time that "culture advanced") is often based on certain classes of society, such as rich people and/or men.

Iceland's Bell by Halldór Laxness

Speaking of how class intersects with technological advancement, this book is set in the 18th century, but it focuses on Iceland at a time when it was ruled by Denmark, and the lower classes there were under an enforced poverty. It's a book about how a rich Icelander was trying to recover the stories of his people in order to create a sense of national identity and resistance. But it's also a story about how a destitute man acts like a total weirdo when he's not allowed to fish in his own waters and is cut off from understanding his place in history.

The Raven Tower by Anne Leckie

A big part of RuneQuest is people interacting with and enacting their gods. That's what this book is about! And it's about the strange vertigo that comes to people when they try to interact with the impossible timelines that gods exist on. Very good stuff.

Night's Master and Death's Master by Tanith Lee

Ostensibly set on Earth back when it was flat and demons roamed the world, which is basically RuneQuest. Sort of like a series of hornier, gay bibles? With lots of gender fuckery, fun sex, and cool monsters.

Circe by Madeline Miller

The story of the witch from The Odyssey, told from her point of view. Beautiful prose, tragic and beautiful characters, and a great share of mythical strangeness. Perfect if you want to learn how to run NPCs that are adversaries without being shallowly evil.

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

Semi-Medieval again, but low class and vague enough that it could exist throughout ancient history. The daughter of a robber grows up in a tower full of robbers and generally has a wonderful time. Lots of weird monsters live in the woods, and there's a great starcrossed romance with someone from a rival robber gang. Perfect inspiration if you're running some cattle-raiding runs in RuneQuest; this is how to make robbers fun and sympathetic.

Read the book, watch the 1984 Swedish movie (which includes a great comedic scene of full-frontal dudity), and then watch the Studio Ghibli series.

A Stranger in Olondria and The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar

Set in a world of pepper farmers and religious fanatics who worship a mysterious inscribed stone, these books do a great job of showing how people might interact with religion, rival cults, and mystery rites. It also portrays literacy and learning to read in places where it's gated behind social gatekeeping. And once again, the prose is beautiful.

The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola

The first African novel published in English outside of Africa, The Palm-Wine Drinkard is a funny, hallucinogenic story about getting drunk, stumbling through weird landscapes, and encountering fantastical spirits and people.

Tutuola also wrote My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the inspiration for the famous(?) David Byrne/Brian Eno album. I haven't read it yet, but I'm keeping an eye out!

The Green Pearl by Jack Vance

This is a sequel to Lyonesse, which I haven't read because I love staring in the middle of things. Set around a mythical British Isles when Atlantis was still above the sea and part of the group of islands. Some great wizard shit, warring clans, romance, and a wizard whose name is fucking Shimrod (in case you need more convincing).

Those are my 20 novel recommendations! I'm gonna come back to add some nonfiction, comics, and myth resources for running games in fantastical ancient worlds. You can read SpeedRune, my ancient fantasy game, here.

[azure-firecracker]

(keep pretending these asks are coming from mulders-too-large-shirt) do you have a favorite txf fan artist? i was initially referring to drawings/visual art when i typed this up, but expanding to writers, gifmakers, etc would be awesome :D

Oh my gosh this fandom has SO MANY talented artists! I will say I don’t look at a ton of fanart right now because a lot of it has spoilers in it but here’s a few:

-Of course the incomparable @scullysmywife who makes wonderfully detailed art (drew their profile pic! Look at it!) They were kind enough to make some fanart for Raise Your Voices which actually made me cry, and they’re just generally a lovely human.

- @katebeckets is a phenomenal gifset maker and comes up with these creative and heart-melting series that I just love. The current series is “how to say I love you in X-Files” and my heart does a little happy dance every time I see a new installment!

- @rosenkranz-does-things makes amazing vintage-style art and has a super cool series of Old Hollywood-style episode posters that I absolutely adore.

I’ve seen SO MUCH gorgeous fanart, but those are the 3 I can really name. For writers, I have a few more. These are all people who, if you open any TXF work of theirs, you know it’ll be fantastic!

- @baronessblixen

- @thursdayinspace

- @actual-changeling

- @theswisscheeserag

- @cecilysass

- @agent-troi

And many more!

[the-gateway-to-madness]

It sorta bothers me that post-series people are still complaining about 3Below being disconnected from the rest of Tales of Arcadia. For me, it was a refreshing break from the densely-packed fantasy lore and an intriguing peek at the way the universe beyond Arcadia and Earth functions. I liked the character arcs and interpersonal connections. And there was ample room for me to come up with a bunch of my own headcanons, which I love! I absolutely love being able to slot pieces of my own mind and soul into an existing world! I don't like shows where I'm told how every little detail works, that's way too much to remember. Instead I want enough to create an idea of the rules and how things might have gone/might continue to go and fill in whatever else I want.

Also, I think 3Below was SUPPOSED to be a lot more connected before Wizards got cut down. Tons of ideas didn't make it into the limited series run- I remember hearing stuff about Mordred being involved, a lost Krel arc, and I'm sure a lot of lore that would have bound the worlds together more closely. When they mentioned Gaylen's core came from Earth, there was clearly supposed to be more to that, but it got cut out. I'm like 93% sure Gaylen was a being who was part of or similar to the Arcane Order, but was drawn to the cosmos rather than to a part of the Earth. That would indicate that Akiridion tech and magic are compatible because Akiridions' energy-based life was initially magical, but those roots were largely forgotten because of how old a civilization Akiridion is. They've been spacefaring since humans were cavepeople. If the Order existed from the primeval dawn of the world, and Gaylen left not long after that, Akiridion could be millenia ahead of Earth. Or, heck, maybe Earth was the first or only livable world, and Gaylen created the Order to look after it before going off to try to find or create life elsewhere. I always headcanoned that Seklos was more powerful than most Akiridions or even the Royals that came after her, given the fact her core alone was enough to stop Gaylen while in the modern era it requires two royal cores. Maybe she was created by Gaylen to be Akiridion's version of an Arcane Order type being, and she created normal Akiridions, which she then had kids with, diluting her power in the Royals that followed. There's so much ancient history to unpack from just the tidbits we were given.

As for the modern era, there seems to very distinctly be a major intergalactic connection. The drunk ship operator in episode 3 of 3b s1 that the Zerons interrogate talks about ship classifications, which indicates a universal or at least an interplanetary system of ship ratings. We also see interplanetary tourism, and signs that Akiridion is one of the most advanced and influential planets out there.

3Below doesn't need to continue the plot of Trollhunters to be a valid part of Tales of Arcadia. It brought an energy to ToA that was somewhere between Star Trek TNG and Babylon 5, and I love how it expands the weirdness of Arcadia. If it was supposed to be a continuation of Trollhunters, they would have made more Trollhunters. But it's not Trollhunters, it's 3Below. And Wizards isn't Trollhunters either! I honestly think that Camelot, Douxie, and the world of wizards could have been written such that the Trollhunters cast was much less focal, and that if they'd given the show the time it needed and deserved to tell its story, it would have been fleshed-out and fascinating all on its own, with or without the TH gang. Where are the magic users beyond the reach of Camelot? Are there merfolk, sirens, harpies, dryads, more dragons, or other sapient races living on Earth with their own civilizations and magic and cultures? There are so many worlds and so many potential stories out there, on Earth and beyond, in the Tales of Arcadia universe. Arcadia just happens to be the narrative meshing point of them all. And I think that's a really cool way to build a universe.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk, here's more Akiridion development as a treat for making it this far.

[brucewaynehater101]

Hello,

I hope you are doing well.

I've been thinking/trying to get into the DC fandom for a while now but I'm not sure how to go about it (two of my QPPs are very into it and I want to understand more of the references they make and it also just sounds like fun), and I was wondering if you might be able to give me a few pointers on what to look at first and such please?

Thank you so much.

-Soter

Hello!!! 👋

I hope you're doing well as well!!!!

Canon material can be extremely daunting, so I completely understand.

There's one main rule for DC: DC stands for Disregard Canon.

Basically, not even the writers themselves can keep stories straight or timelines in order. Even simple facts, such as who's the first Robin or which state Gotham is located in, have various answers depending on what material you consume. However, there are "facts" that are more widely accepted (like Dick Grayson being the first Robin or Gotham being located in New Jersey).

If you have any questions, definitely feel free to send another ask, reblog, comment, etc.

As far as advice for getting into canon material, I suggest picking a character you find interesting and holding onto them for dear life. It can be overwhelming with all the characters, so start with one. Learn what you can about them and branch out when you're comfortable or find a different character you like.

There's a ton of reading lists for various characters ^^ Quite a few great Tumblr blogs have their own curated lists for characters.

There's also a plethora of avenues to consume content. Comics are the main source, but feel free to check out the other stuff too!

If you like video games, I highly recommend the Arkham Series (a trilogy with a prequel).

For shows, there's both live action ones and animated ones.

For movies, there are a ton of live action and animated ones. One of my absolute favorites is UtRH (Under the Red Hood).

You do not have to start with comics.

I'm not really sure how to make reading comics a group thing, but the other ones can definitely be a bonding activity! I was watching the Batman Begin movie with some loved ones and had a lot of fun criticizing how different it was from other canon material. They didn't know quite as much about DC lore, but they liked the cool tidbits I added (basically I was screaming "who the fuck is Rachel" for the entire movie).

Hopefully, that was helpful. Let me know if I need to clarify or expand on anything!!!!

[nikibogwater]

Ya girl's been SICK this week (my first time getting Covid, yaaaay), which sucked, but it did mean I finally had the time to properly binge the How to Train Your Dragon movies for the first time since The Hidden World released. I've never actually sat down and watched all three films back-to-back before, even though this was THE film franchise of my teenage years. But having finally done so, I have Thoughts™.

First movie is still arguably the best of the three, if only because it's an entirely self-contained narrative. The script is really tight and focused, and the whole thing is really well-paced. The animation actually looks way better than I remembered, but that might just be because this was my first time watching it on Blu-Ray instead of digital.

First movie also still has the best soundtrack of the three (which is saying a lot, considering John Powell was absolutely COOKING with all three movies). "Test Drive" is just too iconic to be outdone.

I really like Astrid's character arc in the first movie. I normally don't like tough-as-nails girlboss characters because they're so often one-dimensional and boring, but she works really well for me because her girboss-ness is as much a flaw as it is a strength. While she is athletic and competitive in her own nature, she's also under a lot of pressure to be a tough warrior, since that's what her society values. I love the way Hiccup brings out her softer side, how he shows her through Toothless that it's ok to be gentle, that compassion is a strength in its own right. I love the way she in turn becomes his pillar of support and comfort. Somehow I'd forgotten just how good Hiccstrid really is.

It's weird re-watching the second film as an adult, because I can still clearly remember a time when it was just the coolest thing ever. The second film was really what sold me on the series as a whole, to be honest. Like, don't get me wrong, I always loved the first one, but the second is where I really started getting into the worldbuilding and characters.

So it's weird to come back to it now and find out it's....actually the weakest of the three films (in my opinion, anyways). I can't quite put my finger on why, but the second film feels like it "drifts along" more than the other two. Like things "just happen" without as much input from the characters. Again, I'm not sure why it feels like that, because it's not like the characters aren't proactive and shaping the way the story unfolds.

None of that is to say that the second movie is bad by any stretch of the imagination. It introduces a bunch of really cool new concepts that do a great job of expanding the world and characters. It just had that weird drifty feeling to it that the other two lacked. Does anyone even know what I'm talking about here, or am I just crazy??

It's nuts how much of a touchstone "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" became in fandom culture. Ten years later, and I still see this song popping up in fics from every fandom under the sun. I think that's a testament to how beautiful Stoic and Valka's reunion was.

Unfortunately, Drago Bludvist is....not a very good villain, imo. He kinda just screams a lot, and that's it. His whole thing of imitating dragons in order to subdue them is cool, but it really needed to be backed up by a stronger personality. But it's not too much of an issue since really, his Bewilderbeast is the real obstacle for the heroes to overcome.

Now, The Hidden World is a weirdly controversial movie within the fandom. I still see people whose hatred for this film rivals that of the Tales of Arcadia fandom's hatred for Rise of the Titans. Which...I gotta admit, doesn't make a ton of sense to me. Like, I can understand not liking the bittersweet ending, but it's not as though THW went out of its way to ruin the entire series.

Looking at the series as a whole, I'd say THW feels like the most logical and organic conclusion to the series. Especially if you've read the books or seen the tie-in tv shows. I knew going into this movie that it would end with the dragons leaving--DeBlois even told us as much in an interview leading up to the film's release. And I'm okay with that.

The first movie touches on the theme of loss with Hiccup's leg. The second movie digs into that theme a bit more, with the loss of his parents (first Valka, who thankfully is found again, then Stoic). The Hidden World dives headfirst into the idea. Loss is no longer a mere consequence of the story's events, but the thematic backbone of the whole movie. And it's here that I realized the series has always been about loss, because the series has always been about growing up. You can't mature without losing something, whether it's a place, a person, or your childhood naivete.

HTTYD uses its fantastic premise to explore a painful reality of our own world, and it does so in a way that's entertaining, sincere, and encouraging. Hiccup has lost so much on his journey to adulthood, but he's also grown strong enough to be able to rise above it. He'll be okay. Toothless will be okay. And we'll all be okay too. Idk, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that's my takeaway from the series, and it's definitely something that I've needed to hear more than once as I've grown up.

Grimmel is definitely a huge step up from Drago for me. He's essentially who Hiccup would have become if he'd lacked that compassion that caused him to spare Toothless in the first film. I also love his overall demeanor and presence. He's not a force of nature, or a feral war-lord. He's just a Guy who is very, very good at his job and knows it. Plus, F. Murray Abraham just has a really cool voice.

Unfortunately, as much as I like Grimmel as a villain, he's still outclassed by Viggo Grimborn from Race to the Edge.

I can't get over how insanely good the visuals are in this series. Especially the textures. Like, there's times in the first movie where the textures look so good that the actual models almost can't keep up. I can see what Toothless's scales feel like, the scratchy weave of Hiccup's tunic, the coarse fur of Stoic's cloak. HTTYD is the only series I can think of that seamlessly pulls off a "realistic" look with animation. The world feels real, without taking away from the suspension of disbelief that makes animation such a freeing medium. It's as if they came to the edge of the uncanny valley, then got into a hot air balloon and floated across without ever touching it.

Looking back, I think this was just the perfect series to be a teenager with. It's just the right blend of action, adventure, and emotion, all wrapped up in a wholesome and often heart-rending tale of a boy and his dragon growing up together. I really wish we could have more series like this.

(Edit) Also the Light Fury is my favorite dragon species in the entire series, no I will not take that back, she's super pretty and sparkly and I just want to pat her on her cute nubby head.

[snowball-doie]

once reyna starts making content with her dads, jooha doesn't feel envious of the spotlight on her at all, but he is quite jealous at how it means she's allowed to be seen with them more often than he is. he doesn't throw 'tantrums' over it in the same way reyna does whenever something doesn't go her way, but he does have a bit of a meltdown after he begs and begs doyoung to take him to a museum and he just keeps getting told 'no' and to 'ask his eomma'

😖 My poor Jooha nooooo- We’ll fix this asap for him: Once the boys realize “oh shit we are being unfair and lowkey neglecting our son” they spring into action.

Jooha’s a bit surprised when Jaehyun picks him up from school one day and takes him to get snacks and hang out at the park. Jaehyun pushes Jooha on the swings. They sit on the grass together and eat snacks. They play tag (Jaehyun loses). And Jooha makes a new friend, so Jaehyun swallows his anxiety and decides to introduce himself to the parents who recognize him but are polite enough to play it off and compliment him for being such a great uncle by taking Jooha out for an evening.

Then a couple of days later, Taeyong knocks on Jooha’s door and asks if he can step away from his homework for a few minutes to see something cool, and Taeyong takes Jooha to a local market where there’s tons of small aquariums filled with giant squid and crabs and whatnot. Jooha understands that they’ll be used for food later so it doesn’t bother him to at least admire them for a bit. They get seafood pancakes for dinner lmao.

On the weekend, Doyoung takes Jooha to Hangang to get convenience store food and picnic beside the water as they watch sundown. Jooha gets to see all the bugs in the grass and watch the birds that fly overhead. Doyoung gets to hold Jooha in his lap when it gets dark enough, and he ends up carrying Jooha home because he falls asleep.

A week or so later, Mark takes Jooha to a library— Not a tourist one like COEX, but a real, gigantic library where Jooha can pick out books to read for hours on end as they sit in a secluded corner together. Mark’s reading poetry for lyric inspo, but every so often Jooha will poke his dad and ask what a certain word means in Korean. On their way home, they stop by a bookstore— Mark puts on a mask and lifts his hood— so that Jooha can buy another series he’s been wanting to read.

Johnny takes Jooha to Lotte World. Since they’re family, Johnny can be seen out in a public space like that with his son who’s dressed up in a costume, a bright smile on his face, excitement coarsing through his veins as they go on their next ride together. Johnny expected that Jooha would get overstimulated by all the noise and people, but Jooha has a blast. Having a guide and security help them through parts of the park and skip the lines was probably why Jooha didn’t get overstimulated.

During a break from school, Yuta takes Jooha with him to Tokyo, a rare thing since that’s always been the daddy-daughter trip Yuta and Reyna share together. But this time Yuta wants to spend time with his son. They go on hikes, visit temples, walk through museums, etc. Jooha’s whole world expands during that trip, and he feels so loved with his dad that he ends up falling asleep cuddled in Yuta’s arms every night, which makes Yuta melt. He sends pictures of the trip to the boys and Ahri— “He looks like he’s having fun,” Ahri replies to a picture of Jooha at a temple. “He’s adorable,” Hyuck texts when he sees a picture of Jooha asleep on Yuta’s chest. “I’m glad you took him with you,” Johnny says at the end of the trip when they get home and Jooha’s running around in a t-shirt his dad bought for him at the airport.

Jungwoo takes Jooha to a small, quiet town in the South that’s along the water, somewhere that hasn’t been discovered by tourists yet. They collect seashells on the beach, and Jooha races back to the hotel to draw them in his notebook. They eat all kinds of foods Jooha’s never tried before— And they discover that Jooha’s not a fan of most of them. That’s okay. At least he tried. Jungwoo surprises his son with a kite one afternoon, so they spend their time out in the sun, flying the kite together, both of them laughing when the wind dies out and the kite crashes into the water. Jungwoo chases Jooha up and down the shoreline, both of them laughing loudly, and when Jungwoo catches his son, he scoops Jooha up then gives him a piggy-back ride to the hotel.

Haechan’s so busy he’s struggling to find time to be with either of his kids. He’s trying his best to even make it home most nights….. and he’s usually failing at that anyhow. The best he can do is one night when he gets home late, he arrives with his favorite kind of ice cream that he knows Jooha likes too. It’s late, way past everyone’s bedtime, all the adults cuddled up in someone’s bed, the kids fast asleep before they have to go to school the following morning. Hyuck stops by Doyoung’s room to kiss him and Ahri on the cheeks before he goes to Jooha’s room. “Shh, it’s just me, buddy.” Jooha whines tiredly and sits up, “Oppa?” “I brought something for you. Do you wanna see?” Jooha nods and takes his dad’s hand, following Hyuck downstairs to the dining room where Haechan sets up the ice cream. “Don’t tell eoma, okay? It’s our secret.” Jooha nods and excitedly tries to climb up into a chair, but instead, Hyuck pulls him onto his lap so that they can eat together. He asks Jooha about school, if the bullies have left him alone, if he has a crush on anyone. He asks how hanging out with his dads the past few weeks has been. Jooha eats the ice cream happily while replying earnestly. “Oppa, can I go with you and daddy on your next tour?” Hyuck hesitates, “What made you think of that?” “I never get to hang out with you…… But maybe if I went to work with you, we’d get to talk all the time.” Hyuck can’t promise that for obvious reasons, but it’s a huge wake up call that he needs to try harder to spend more time with his family.

[zeravmeta]

long winded whining underneath

saw that post abt the saberfaces and like while I can understand the point in like, a billion dollar company reusing a design/design element might not appear favorable and it isn't even that wrong to say they are squeezing their cash cow flagship character i fundamentally disagree because thats like the equivalent of complaining about jojo having every protagonist with a name that can be shortened to jojo or final fantasy always having reused monsters like bahamut

and this isnt even a "oh saber is good i swear!" type thing but like. fate's been around for almost two decades now and has had tons of media made with plenty of recurring motifs and thematics that are acknowledged by the writers who are incredibly vocal fans of the series so if you're going into a long established franchise and complaining about long standing injokes and long standing patterns it comes across less as poining out the flaws in a billion dollar company and more like you just dont like that you didnt get it at first? takeuchi samefaceness isnt a problem unique to takeuchi and there are thousands of artists who have the same issue and even then a bunch of the saberfaces werent even drawn by takeuchi at first (nero was wada and jeanne & mordred was konoe) so them playing off the saberface jokes with designs isnt even that agregious because even if they have similar colors you'd have to be reading it in bad faith to say that the fgo artoria and fgo jeannes takeuchi designs are the exact same. an artist can have a style to how they draw their characters and just because there is overlap does not automatically equate that to having lazy designs.

more than anything saberfacing is part of nasuverse iconography, when a character is a saberface it isnt just about selling the design it is in fact an intentional design choice that tells you about the themeing of the character. im not going to say that nasuverse lore is sacred because it definitely isnt and they are in fact just doing what they think is cool but when you have nasu literally adding a chapter for limbo because he thought hasendows design was so beautiful it shouldn't be limited to a single appearance and then had that expanded into one of the more popular story chapters that tells you that these are creators who do pay attention to the designs that go into their characters. the same applies to chica umenos oberon, to wada and redrops designs and so many more, they absolutely care about the art that goes into their series.

I'm not gonna tell you that you must absolutely do your homework to enjoy any piece of fate media we are all free to do literally whatever we want forever and -clenches fist- you can also enjoy it in any type of way even in a surface level way. but when you acknowledge that a series is long standing with deeper themes acknowledged by its long standing playerbase and that the writers have so much passion for their own work (for better or worse, again nasuverse is absolutely not immune to criticism), saying that it comes across as disingenuous to have a recurring character design injoke because its heavily popular now despite not being popular once upon a time in itself comes across as disingenuous. nasuverse stuff being born of niche doujin circles and still being in touch with those roots isnt some kind of disqualification of the existence of saberfaces or the reasons behind them. when we ask you to read fate stay night its literally because we want you to enjoy it More so that you can, in fact, understand why saberface is a thing to begin with. being a popular franchise nowadays doesnt remove any of that charm unless you're specifically ignoring them. we literally have bbs profile in fgo say 'if you want to understand her deal and the deal of other similar characters read fate extra ccc' (bb herself being a sakuraface) so like theyre fully forward about the most accessible entrypoint into the franchise having a ton of history behind it

[atelier-slime]

DRAGON QUEST'S LOCALIZATION SUCKS, ACTUALLY. PART 1

There's a thread blowing up on Japanese twitter right now about the poor quality of localization. It's the first time I've ever actually seen a japanese perspective on the topic, and it's been extremely gratifying to see a ton people from over there talk about specific translation issues they've seen or learn for the first time that japanese media is often given the short end of the stick here in the USA.

Most of the time over here in the US, criticism of localization gets shouted down as whiny fans who think they know better than the translators. It's been heartening to see that people from japan are also annoyed by it, and its inspired me to write up a whole long-ass rant I've had simmering in the back of my mind for years, so buckle up, long post(s) incoming:

Let's start at the beginning with the first thing that ever caused me to start thinking about localization. This little guy:

If you've played Dragon Quest in the past 2 decades, you probably know this guy by the name "Spiked Hare." Not me though! I got into DQ on the game boy, in the brief window of time where DQ's localization was handled by Nob Ogasawara, the same guy responsible for translating every pokemon game up until Platinum. In the DQ games Nob worked on, he chose to translate this guy's name as "Almiraj." Why the huge difference in translation? I'll get to that in a minute.

The almiraj is an extremely minor enemy in Dragon Quest 3. It's pretty weak, and it's only real defining feature is that it can occasionally cast sleep spells on your party members. It's just one of hundreds of monsters in that game, and aside from it's cute design, it's pretty forgettable. As a weird kid overly obsessed with linguistics though, its name always seemed odd to me. You don't really see words that end with a "J" in english. It stuck out enough that one night, when I was bored, I decided to google "almiraj" to figure out what the name meant. It sent me down a rabbit hole (almiraj hole?) that taught me all sorts of cool shit, and permanently altered the way I looked at localization. The path I tumbled down that night went something like this:

The Dragon Quest almiraj is named after the almiraj, a "real" mythical creature described as a hare with a large horn on its head.

The original inspiration for accounts of the almiraj (as well as the jackalope, wolpertinger, etc.) is likely the Shope papiloma Virus, which causes rabbits to grow weird, horn-like growths on their face and head.

It was described by Zakariya al-Qazwini, an Iranian lawyer, author, and all around knowledgeable guy who lived in the 13th century.

al-Qazwini described it in the Aja'ib al-Makhluqat, a massive cosmographical treatise that attempted to describe basically everything in the known universe at the time. It was so popular in the Islamic world that it was copied and translated into dozens of languages, which meant plenty of copies have survived intact to modern times.

The almiraj was brought into the limelight in modern fantasy when it was introduced in the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, as a relatively weak and unassuming monster as part of a campaign to expand the game with monster suggestions from fans of the series.

Dungeons and Dragons-style role playing games were brought into the digital world with the release of the first Wizardry game in 1981.

Yuji Horii was a massive fan of Wizardry, which he first discovered as part of a developer exchange program when he visited America in 1983. Three years later, he decided to try and recreate the things he loved from the series for console gamers in Japan, and the the original Dragon Quest was born.

One little name was all it took to open up this entire through-line of history that I had no idea even existed before that night. It's a tapestry of human experiences over 800 years in the making, spanning continents, cultures, languages, and medium. It's probably because I'm the type of person who sits around thinking about stuff too much, but I honestly get a little emotional wondering what al-Qazwini would think if he could see the mythical creatures he described all those years ago as little dudes hopping around inside a computer.

And the thing is the tapestry doesn't end there! Dragon Quest is still pretty niche in the west, but in Japan it's fucking titanic. There's an urban legend that the Japanese government banned Square Enix from releasing Dragon Quest games on a weekday, because so many people would skip work or school that it would impact the economy. (It's not true by the way, but the fact that the rumor exists at all is a testament to how huge the series' influence is over there.) I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that what Lord of the Rings did to modern western fantasy, Dragon Quest did to modern Japanese fantasy. Almost every JRPG, manga, or anime with a fantasy setting has the fingerprints of Dragon Quest on it. Countless other works have been inspired by DQ, and those works will go on to inspire others. A million different threads weaving tapestries back and forth across time and borders, all over the globe. And the almiraj is a part of that! It might just be a single, tiny, white and purple thread, but it's still in there helping to tie things together.

So back to the question I asked earlier: Why is it "Almiraj" in Mr. Ogasawara's translation but "Spiked hare" in the current one? Simple: Nob actually translated the name.

You can see on the DQ wiki that the original japanese name of the monster is "アルミラージ" which is literally just "almiraj" written in katakana:

The current DQ team has instead decided that all monster names should be puns. I'm not against puns or anything. "Spiked hare" for a rabbit with a horn is great! I might even raise my eyebrows and exhale slightly if I read it for the first time. Dragon Quest in general tends to have a lot of goofiness in it, so it's not like puns are out of place or anything. My problem is that, by deciding to replace monster names arbitrarily like this, all the little threads start to come unraveled. You lose the ability to look back down the line and discover all these different connections to history and nature and art that you might not ever learn otherwise. The almiraj isn't the only monster to get this treatment. A huge portion of the monsters in Dragon Quest are taken from mythologies around the world, and many of their names are literally already in English, just written with katakana.

The almiraj sticks out in my mind as a particularly egregious example because of just how much I learned because of the foreign-sounding name, but there's plenty of other name changes that have resulted in straight up confusing, ambiguous, or otherwise stupid outcomes in the current localization.

CONTINUED IN PART 2

[aihoshiino]

what are your thoughts on the trailer!!! I was excited before but I'm really hyped now to see how they take on this arc (especially since it's one of the strongest in my opinion) it looks like the team having a lot of fun bringing out each characters acting quirks and expanding on what they did in the last season, I'm really looking forward to how they adapt everything! the scene at the end is soooo cool....agh doga kobo really loves onk and you can FEEL it lol

FROTHING AND FOAMING AT THE MOUTH ABOUT IT!!!!!

i've been desperate to see how tokyo blade would get adapted to the anime since episode one last year and like. i'm trying not to get my hopes too high but even just going off what we've seen in the trailer, I'm so incredibly excited. It already seems like the team are making a ton of incredibly creative and fun directing and staging decisions to punch up the imagery and ideas of the manga's version of events (I literally hyena laughed out loud in sheer Wow! Fuck! The Power Of Animation!!! glee when i was watching live and saw that paint splatter effect and the half-Tsurugi half-Kana shot for the first time). In general, I think the Tokyo Blade arc is really uniquely suited to being adapted into an anime format over any other arc in the series and it easily has the potential to top season 1.

The new OP also whips ass??? i honestly thought betting on bringing Yoasobi back would have been free money so this really took me out lol (tho since GEMN seems to be a unit made specifically for OnK season 2, I've heard speculation that Ayase of Yoasobi and Avu are part of it? time will tell ig.) I loooooove Fatale even in the snippet we've heard so far, though - I think comparisons to IDOL would've been inevitable so going in a really different direction was probably the best thing to do. I also love that it feels almost more like an OP for Tokyo Blade, the in universe fiction, than it does OnK itself - that's such a fun touch!

Augh. Wuagh. I'm just so excited. I've been daydreaming about what season 2 of the anime would look like ever since I got hooked back into the series and it feels so surreal that we're so close!!! on god i gotta finish my s1 rewatch by july...

[system-of-a-feather]

I'm glad you're going hogwild on Bleach rn. It was also a major part of our childhood and development, and I feel like there's still a ton to get out of it, even from an older perspective. (Not trying to sound uppity or anything, I really love Bleach.)

What do you think about the idea of Ichigo as a CDD allegory? I don't think he was written with that in mind, but reading through the manga, there are a lot of scenes that make me go "hmMMMMMM."

(Never watched the anime, lol. Manga-only)

Funny you should ask that question. I have actually already made a very important post on the topic of Ichigo as a CDD allegory. /hj

Honestly though, I think its one of my favorite "not intentionally a CDD but very relatable as someone with a CDD". Like I'd have to get further into TYBW and later cause I know they expand and drop some lore secrets about the dynamic of the part (I was gonna edit that to be more accurate to the world context of Bleach but I felt that term is telling about how I feel about the allegory XD) that make up Ichigo's soul and shit.

I know a lot of what is revealed because as good as I obstained from a lot of spoilers, I actually heard a rumor that Hollow Ichigo isn't seen after the Aizen-Karakura town arc and I was so distraught at that that I let it be something I got spoiled on before it was announced that it would continue. At the time, I thought it upset me cause I thought the hollow stuff was cool, but that reasoning didn't really make sense to me because I was actually like *sad* in a "no thats not fair or right, hollow ichigo deserves to live too" which in hindsight, I realize was probably some not-entirely subconscious "no don't just delete and erase the existance of a part of yourself!!! You should make friends with them and make them your best ally!!! I want to see more HIchi and Ichigo interact ;w;"

and also

like

lowkey I had a Hollow Ichigo introject in my head that I didn't know about for the longest time so it was probably pretty personal

But personal shit aside, I honestly really do like it. I mean to some level - especially early in the series - its a lot of "oooooh spooky evil alter" vibes, but honest to god - and this is a controversial opinion - I think we need more nuanced "evil" alter representation rather than the elimination of the "evil alter" trope because shitty asshole alters exist and are actually common and I think its a lot more meaningful to show how two completely conflicting and otherwise aggressive towards eachother individuals can find a middle ground and empower eachother. Which is what Bleach does particularly with Ichigo and his hollow self and UNIRONICALLY the whole Bleach arc Ichigo has with his hollow self is incredibly similar to the "arc" that XIV and I had which, go figure. Me the Shounen Boy Optimist protagonist and a literal hollow ichigo introject had a similar arc to the Shounen Protagonist and Hollow ichigo. Do you see the shock in my voice?

Honestly if I have time and feel like it (unlikely since I don't often have time) I might put a longer opinion / discussion on it, but honestly, even outside of Ichigo, I think the way Bleach handles Zanpaktous and even stuff like Lillynette and Stark is just a really fun way to have a lot of plural / CDD adjacent themes and vibes without necessarily even being an allegory.

The idea of being able to have a manifestation of your soul and the power it has take a sentient form and the bonding, communication, and collaboration with said manifestation being the key to increased power and skill development is just??? The coolest thing?

Honestly I think Bleach has subconsciously informed a lot of how our system is structured and interacts in more ways than we are probably cognitively currently aware of and I think to some good level that whole just general vibe probably plays a role in it somewhere.

But man, I love this show. I honestly am genuinely thinking of returning to my natural autistic instincts and just chronically watching it whenever I dont have anything else to watch because I really DONT need to have a variety of shows to watch and honestly if something aint broke, why ever change it /hj

I can have a comfort anime smh